Steel Sapphires and Shattered Emeralds
by Stefbug
Summary: Following a wave of mutant murders Sage realises that they have a serial killer on their hands, and he could be targeting the LAPD coroner that she's been working with. Warning femslash.
1. Chapter 1

This is my offering for the Average Everyday Love Affair challenge set by Princess Alexandria. Warnings include details of killings, sexual situations and adult content. I'll give you warnings at the beginning of chapters that contain anything worse.

Disclaimer: Not mine, they belong to marvel. Although I could do better things with them than what marvel has at the moment. Kayleigh however is mine and I will hunt down and kneecap anyone who steals her.

This is dedicated to my Kyalesyin, who has indulged my obsessions for longer than I would have expected, acted as my editor-in-chief and helped so much with the Irish accent. I love you babe.

Enjoy.

Steel Sapphires and Shattered Emeralds

Chapter 1

"What a bleedin' waste," Kayleigh muttered through clenched teeth as she forced the tap into the off position. It'd been sticking for a while now and today was not a good day for it to be anything but working properly. She knew that if she'd spent much longer washing her hands she'd have made them bleed, but the pain felt good, cutting through the fog and allowing her to think straight. It was a godsend at times like this.

Sighing Kayleigh snapped on the latex gloves and strode over to her equipment to begin the last cleaning routine. As she did she looked over to the lifeless body of the young woman, not really much more than a girl, on her table. She sighed again, trying to regain her professional distance. After all she saw dead bodies every day, why should this one be any different? But, getting a closer look as she carried her equipment to the stand next to the body, it was still such a damn waste.

Glancing again to make sure that everything was in place, Kayleigh double-checked that her notes were in order and up to date. After all, her guest would probably want to read them when she arrived. Everything in place, Kayleigh took one last look at the body. "Rath Dé ort, and with us all."

"'Grace of God be with you,' interesting sentiments. You have Irish heritage I take it." At the sound of the cool feminine voice behind her Kayleigh turned, not exactly sure who or what she was going to see and not expecting what she did.

The woman who was standing near the door was stunning, that was the only word to describe her. The poise with which she held herself gave her an air of natural and effortless confidence, which her figure hugging leather clothing did nothing to counter. Blue-black hair fell framing an aristocratic face accented by two distinctive black tattoos.

Kayleigh knew she must look a mess by comparison. She had a figure that could be described as well-built at worst or valkyrie like at best, and was definitely no comparison to the woman in front of her. The plastic apron slung over jeans and a plain, functional shirt made her look plain and somewhat masculine. And her hair. Oh Jesus. Her hair. She knew by now, from the tingling feeling in her scalp, that what had started out a fairly average brown was now a flaming red.

"You must be Sage," she blustered, "I normally work with Amara. So, how come you're here?" she continued, hoping it would cover up her embarrassment and distract from her hair.

"Amara is on a leave of absence. You are Kayleigh Del'Cairn, the LAPD coroner. You are a mutant whose hair changes colour dependant on mood."

"Wow. You must have an incredible memory to remember all that shite from my file." Kayleigh said, with a slightly embarrassed cough. 'Jesus', she thought, 'way to show how sophisticated you are.'

However, Sage said nothing about the lapse, only quirked an eyebrow slightly. "My mutation allows me to have perfect and instant recall of everything I see and hear, as well as other things." She didn't go into anymore detail, as if not wanting to brag.

Kayleigh was impressed. She'd known that detective they were sending was a mutant, after all Amara was and they were both from the XSE, but not one with such a useful mutation. She sighed, slightly bitter. "Impressive. Your mutation is to mine what having an extra pair or arms is to having a sixth toe."

"Actually, having a sixth toe would be exceptionally useful considering the improvements it would make to your balance." Sage pointed out in a totally objective way.

Kayleigh said nothing to that, couldn't really. She felt her hair shifting from the flame red of interest to the rose pink of embarrassment and shame, and she felt slightly bitterer. After all, she knew her mutation was about as useful as a chocolate teapot, but there was no need to rub it in. Especially in such an offhand manner.

She took a deep breath, annoyed with herself for getting out of control. She wasn't normally this volatile. She forced herself to take a mental step backwards, taking several deep breaths. She needed to regain her professional detachment. Quickly.

"Shall we begin?" Sage asked from where she had finished reading the preliminary notes that Kayleigh had left out for her. It wasn't obvious but Kayleigh swore that Sage had been giving her time to compose herself, despite how quickly the woman had gone through fifteen pages of note. She nodded and turned on the recorder.

"Autopsy No. 213684. Conducted by LAPD coroner Kayleigh Del'Cairn. Present is detective Sage of the XSE." Kayleigh shifted over to her equipment, letting the recorder hang on its support.

"Subject is a mutant female of Caucasian decent. Her mutation consists of dark feathers instead of hair, which covers her scalp and upper shoulders and back."

She referred to her notes briefly. "Subject's name was Maria Saunders, and she was, 18 years old."

Kayleigh paused and Sage added "She was a runaway, reported missing by her parents over a year ago, and was apparently living in a shelter at time of death."

Kayleigh continued, slightly put out by what she saw as an unnecessary interruption. "There appear to be almost no defensive wounds to the arms, hands or nails, but scrapings have been taken and sent to trace. This could indicate that either the subject knew her attacker or was incapacitated."

Kayleigh began the autopsy properly, making the Y incision and following procedure to the letter. She would prove to Sage that she was a professional, despite her earlier slip ups. As she cut she continued her narration to the tape recorder. "Subject shows no signs of rape, but a sexual assault kit has been collected and sent to DNA. Subject's organs all appear to be in perfect condition although her bones are hollow. However, Detective Sage assures me this is common in avian mutations."

"Cause of death appears to be strangulation, with petechial haemorrhaging around the eyes and visible finger shaped bruising around the neck. She also has a crushed larynx. No weapon appears to have been used, and there is no fibre or trace evidence to be submitted." Kayleigh shuddered slightly, but continued to do what was necessary.

Finished with the autopsy she stripped off her gloves and turned back to the recorder to deliver her verdict. "The conclusions of this autopsy are that the cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation. End of report."

As Kayleigh reached up to turn off the recorder she knocked against her equipment table, bringing her whole tray tumbling down on to the ground. Before she could react, grab a pair of gloves and bend down to pick it up Sage, who was still right next to her reacted instead. As she did, Kayleigh got a view of a perfect, firm pair of leather-encased buttocks.

Feeling the tingle of her hair changing again she hastily muttered an apology, fleeing towards the bathroom before Sage had a chance to look up. As Kayleigh fled she muttered under her breath "Not purple, Jesus fucking Christ please not purple."

Standing in front of the mirror she looked in disgust at the lust-induced purple of her hair. 'What was she coming to?' she asked herself, a thirty year old woman allowing her hormones to control her like this. Besides, a woman like Sage could have anyone she wanted, and was more than likely already taken.

"Pull yourself together girly," she told her reflection sternly focusing on calming down again. A few minutes later, when she had managed this feat and her hair was back to its normal colour she made her way back to the autopsy room, where Sage was still waiting patiently.

"How long until we get those DNA and trace results back?" the raven haired woman asked her as Kayleigh stripped off the last of her protective gear and bundled it into the bin waiting for it.

"The trace might take a little while, Jean is pretty slow, but our DNA tech, Greg, is bloody good. So it shouldn't be long, two or three days at the most." She shrugged, not really knowing too much about that side of things. "But I should have the tox report back by tomorrow."

"When you do get it through please be sure to email them to us so that my partner Bishop and I can analyse them further." Sage asked. Kayleigh nodded and watched as the detective left, amazed at the effect the woman had had on her. Even now her hair was probably shifting itself back to red. Pulling the long plait over her shoulder she nodded, yep it was red alright. That meant it was the headscarf for tonight's walk home then.

Her shift now over Kayleigh headed into her small office and retrieved her emergency headscarf from the drawer she kept it stashed in. It never hurt to keep one around, for 'just in case' times, like these. Taking care to make sure she covered every last piece of hair she meticulously wrapped the scarf from her roots all the way down to the end of her plait at hip level.

She walked home fairly briskly, glad that it was the early hours of the morning and that the heat had not yet risen with the sun although it was hot enough without it, wishing she was in bed already. It had been a long night and she was tired. Making her way through the nearly empty streets, she was also glad that there were just enough people around that they weren't deserted.

As she walked Kayleigh reflected on the things that Sage had said to her, focusing in particular on the fact that she had referred to this Bishop person as her partner. Sure, so she probably meant that she worked closely with them, but a woman like Sage, who could have anyone she wanted. Really it just confirmed what Kayleigh already thought, Sage was taken and there was no point in being interested.

She sighed as she let herself into her apartment and swept the headscarf off her head with annoyance. She would have to remember to take it back with her tomorrow; there was no way she was going to be caught without it. She shook her head, it had been months since she had to wear it, months since she'd lost so much control, and all over one woman.

Admittedly, Sage was in an incredible woman, with not only a sharp and impressive intellect but a body to match. Kayleigh shook her head, closing the door behind her with a click and making her way into the bathroom, shedding her coat and bag onto the hanger as she went. Stopping in front of the bathroom mirror she looked at her treacherous hair, still faintly red even now. Turning away she quickly stripped off her clothes, placing them into the laundry basket before getting in the shower.

The coolness of the water was a blessing especially after the heat of the walk home. As with early summer in most cities the buildings held the heat between them, creating a sauna effect that rivalled any spa treatment. She was once again glad that the new day's heat had not been added to it.

However, her mind soon became a curse, drawing her thoughts back to the events of the night. First of all it brought back the embarrassment at how clumsy and awkward she had been, fumbling around despite being a skilled professional. It reminded her of being back in school, desperate to show off her first crush, not realising what a pillock it had made her seem.

That train of thought led her to the object of her attraction, Sage. Her thoughts roamed over the woman's body, the sleek muscles showcased under the tight black leather, the way everything was on display despite her being fully clothed, and finally her piercing blue eyes. Eyes the colour of the sky after a thunderstorm.

It was the eyes that really did Kayleigh in, and no amount of cold water was going to take care of the burning lust that Kayleigh felt clawing its way through her. Frustrated, she did the only thing she could, and once finished took herself to bed to try and forget. After all, she told herself, no point in lusting after what isn't available.


	2. Chapter 2

Steel Sapphires and Shattered Emeralds

Chapter 2

Summer rolled on and the sauna-like heat of mid June climbed to the blistering, deadly heat of mid July. It was unusually, brutally hot and Kayleigh was glad for once that she was working nights. People weren't taking even the most basic of precautions, the evidence seen by the number of bodies on Kayleigh's table killed by heatstroke and dehydration.

'Bleedin' idiots.' She thought to herself as she put away the most recent body. 'Bleedin' idiots the lot of them.' It wasn't as if there weren't enough radio and TV warnings, even she knew of the dangers despite rarely watching TV or listening to the radio, and it wasn't as though water wasn't free. It was just laziness and stupidity.

With the amount of work she'd had over the past month she had almost forgotten about Sage, although the dark haired woman still haunted some of her dreams and fantasies, but a cool voice behind her brought all of those memories flooding back to her, and caused her to almost drop her equipment tray again. "Miss Del'Cairn."

"Merry hell." Kayleigh cursed quietly as she fought both to balance her tray and keep her hair neutral. She could be professional about meeting Sage again. Would be professional she told herself sternly. Apparently her thoughts took too long and Kayleigh heard Sage clear her throat.

"Kayleigh, are you all right?" came the dispassionate voice behind her. Kayleigh felt the warning tingle at the roots of her hair and continued to fight it as she turned around to face Sage.

"You remembered my name." She said fairly shocked. Most people stumbled over her surname, calling her 'Miss Cairn' or tried to pronounce it 'Corn'. Most of them also seemed to forget she had a first name at all, but Sage had not only remembered both which was a rarity in itself, but with perfect pronunciation which was unheard of.

"Of course," came the reply, "I do have perfect recall, remember?" As Sage said that Kayleigh felt herself flush with embarrassment, right up to her hair. Sage had told her that the first time they'd met but Kayleigh had forgotten in the thrill of someone remembering her name. What an idiot Sage must think her.

"Ok, well yeah, anyways," she babbled, not quite sure how to get herself out of the hole she was rapidly digging for herself. 'Somebody call in the JCB now and save me the trouble,' she thought to herself. Sage's voice once again pulled her focus back.

"Is this the body I've been called into see?" Sage asked, pointing their conversation deftly back towards the matter at hand. She gestured towards the body on the table.

"Yeah, it is," said Kayleigh. "Tragedy when they die so young," she added softly, taking her place next to the body.

On Kayleigh's table was another young mutant woman, not the first she'd seen in the last month, but the first to die in suspicious circumstances, and that meant that the XSE were called in to investigate, as with every other suspicious mutant death in the area, if not the world.

"So, did you have to travel far to get here?" Kayleigh asked, as she scrubbed up, having not had the chance to wash her hands before Sage arrived, and preferring an attempt at small talk to the awkward silence that was stretching between them. At least she was trying, she figured.

"A fair way," Sage answered, watching her preparations intently. "I came in from Valle Soleada."

"Jesus. That trip must have been right bastard in this heat. Oh shite." She said, realising that once again she'd sworn in front of her visitor. "Uh, anyways, shall we move on?" she finished awkwardly.

Sage nodded, a slightly amused look on her face. "Lets."

"Autopsy no 213822. Conducted by LAPD coroner Kayleigh Del'Cairn. Present is Detective Sage of the XSE." As with the last autopsy Kayleigh left the recorder to hang as she got on with her job.

"Subject is a mutant female of indeterminable descent. Her mutation consists of blue skin, hair, nails and irises and makes determining decent as this stage impossible,"

Kayleigh consulted her notes briefly before continuing. "However her family are all Caucasian so it could be assumed that she too would be, without her mutation."

"Subject's name was Annabella Sampson and she was 22 years old. There appears to be no defensive wounds, although the subject appears to have dug her nails into her palm hard enough that they bled. She may have tried to fight, but the lack of other wounds suggests she was incapacitated. Nail scrapings have been sent to trace."

Kayleigh paused again, fussing with a loose strand of her hair. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Subject shows no signs of rape, but a sexual assault kit has been taken and sent to DNA. Cause of death appears to be strangulation; petechial haemorrhaging and bruises to the neck are consistent with that. The subject also has a split lip and a crushed larynx."

Kayleigh paused again, pursing her lips. "If he hit her, she wasn't trying to stop him. Sodding little bastard." It was Kayleigh's opinion that any man who hit a woman was little, despite physical size. Why else would they feel the need?

She sighed, and continued. "From the angle of the bruising and the subject's height the attacker is about 5'9''. No sign of rope or fibres in the wound. In fact, there's no sign of a rope or any other weapon being used at all." She started the physical part of the autopsy, narrating as she went.

"Subjects organs…" she trailed off as she removed the lungs. "They're blue… Sage?" she asked, knowing that this was partly the reason the other woman was with her. "Is this some sort of poison effect I've never seen before or are they supposed to be this way?"

Sage appeared to contemplate that for a second, attention turned elsewhere. "The blue colouration is a part of her mutation."

"Ok then…" Said Kayleigh "The subjects organs appear to be perfectly healthy although blue in colouration, which Detective Sage assures me is part of the mutation. The conclusions are asphyxiation sue to strangulation."

Kayleigh frowned at this. The first case she'd worked on with Sage had a similar conclusion drawn, had a similar MO and similar victim. She finished laying the body out quickly, stripped off her gloves and headed for her desk. She kept a stack of old notes in the drawer and wanted to check something.

"The attacker is that same height as the one from the last case we worked on together," came Sage's voice from beside her. Kayleigh jerked around, coming almost nose-to-nose with the other woman.

"How did you know what I was going to check, I hadn't even put voice to my suspicions. And I could've worked that out for myself, eventually." Kayleigh snapped, slightly put out that once again Sage was stepping on her toes. Even if it was her job.

"I can analyse things in a split second that it would take you 20 minutes to work out. It's my job to do so," replied Sage, echoing Kayleigh's thoughts. "And as for knowing what you were going to check, it's also my gift to watch, analyse and read people."

Kayleigh was slightly taken aback by not only the words Sage said but also the way she said them. She sounded almost, lonely, and for once very human. Kayleigh was surprised to get so much insight into her and decided to put aside her irritation and try some small talk, to try and draw her out further.

"So, did your partner come with you this time?" she asked, figuring it was best to start on something neutral as she bagged and labelled various pieces of evidence from the autopsy.

"Yes. Lucas is talking to the detectives who found the body, the same as last time. He gets on better with them than I do." Sage seemed to come out of her shell a little. "Do you get on well with your co-workers here?"

"They're an ok bunch, if all brains and no body. The only bodies I get so see are down here on my table." Kayleigh processed what she'd said for a second. She winced visibly and looked at Sage, who looked mildly embarrassed for her. 'Ok' Kayleigh thought, 'memo to self; way too early for bad humour.' She felt her hair shift towards embarrassment and winced again. Just great.

"I take it the samples will be with us in about the same amount of time as before?" Sage asked, once again pushing the conversation back to the job at hand. Kayleigh sighed inwardly. Her saviour.

"It shouldn't take any more time, no, but it depends on how many other cases we get," she knew Sage knew this but felt better for adding it. "So Sage, do you reckon it is the same killer as before?"

"Ask me that when we meet again," Sage returned cryptically, gathering up the notes and getting ready to leave.

"You mean if, right?" Sounding slightly worried at this comment Kayleigh turned from her work to face the departing woman.

"Hopefully. Goodbye Miss Del'Cairn," Sage slipped back into formality and professionalism.

"Goodbye Detective Sage." Kayleigh replied, responding to the formality that Sage was using with her, and watched as once again the beautiful detective walked out of her life.

Three weeks later Kayleigh was looking at a distressingly familiar scene in her morgue. On her table another mutant female, and in her doorway Sage. She shook her head as she scrubbed up, distress mingling with fear to colour her hair an odd dark grey shade without her even noticing. Taking a deep breath she asked a question she was dreading the answer to. "It's a fucking serial, isn't it?"

"Yes." Sage's answer was simple and coolly delivered, but it chilled Kayleigh to the bone.

"Fuck. So this isn't the last one then?" Kayleigh was so distressed at the thought of a serial killer running loose in her city she didn't even notice that she had sworn out loud again.

"No." Sage said simply. "It probably isn't."

"Lets get this over and done with then. The sooner we're done here the sooner you'll have the information to catch the guy." Kayleigh walked over to her table and started the recording. "Autopsy No. 213987."

From there the autopsy went pretty much as it had before. Caucasian, mutant, no sign of a struggle, no sign of rape, strangulation with no sign of a weapon as cause of death. The only differences were that not only did the victim have a split lip, she also had a black eye and bruising on the cheek and her age was 27, a lot older than the previous two.

In this case, the mutation was also incredibly minor- the woman's eyes were all pupil and iris, with no whites. Sage hadn't been able to determine what, if any abilities it gave her.

"Measurements confirm that the killer was the same height as before. The methods are identical. It is definitely a serial." Sage said, confirming what she had said at the beginning of the autopsy.

"He's getting worse." Kayleigh pointed out, motioning to the bruises on the woman's face. Yet again, there had been no sign that she'd tried to defend herself. The thought of a serial killer targeting young mutant women had scared her, but not so much as the thought that he was escalating.

"Yes, he's getting to enjoy himself more and he's gotten the hang of his methods." Sage's voice cut through Kayleigh's thoughts. "The last anyone saw of her she was walking out of a shopping centre car park. It was broad daylight and no one saw a thing."

This news shook Kayleigh even more. The last two killings had been at night, when the areas had been all but deserted. "Not really surprising, considering she's visibly a mutant. Half those people probably wouldn't tell you even if they had seen a bleedin' thing." Kayleigh's hair shot through with scarlet.

"You'd be surprised," Sage chastised her.

"Not really." Kayleigh countered angrily, before pulling herself together. "I'm sorry," she apologised. "It's just that these cased have got me riled up. And I'm not good with strangling cases at the best of times."

"It's ok, I understand." There was a hint of a something in Sage's voice, but Kayleigh wasn't entirely sure what it was. "Normal procedure for the evidence?"

"Aye." She sagged slightly. "Catch this bastard Sage."

"I'll do my best."

Although it was her last case of the evening Kayleigh dragged out going home. It wasn't that she was scared, she told herself. It's just that she had paperwork to get finished and she didn't want to take it home.

She was skittish as she walked home, taking her normal leisurely route at twice its normal speed. In fact, she was so absorbed was she in her surroundings that she didn't notice the loose paving slab until she'd tripped over it.

"Shite, you bastard thing!" she hissed as her hair flashed the pure electric blue of pain. As she gathered herself up she noticed a man, about 5'9''ish, start to move in her direction. Heart pounding she continued on her way, chiding herself for being paranoid whilst still keeping an eye out for the man behind her.

As he turned the same corner as her for the 5th time she began to speed up, and by the 6th corner she was running, frantic to get home, to get to safety. Throwing herself into her apartment and bolting the door behind her she collapsed in front of it, tears trickling down her face.


	3. Chapter 3

Steel Sapphires and Shattered Emeralds

Chapter 3

Two weeks passed and Kayleigh began to hope that it was the end of the serial killer's run, that he'd been killed by someone, gotten bored, or even moved to another city. As much as she chided herself for wishing this on anybody else, the fear that clutched at her every time she got a female body on the table and every time she walked home alone still made her wish it desperately sometimes. She'd even taken to waiting until some of the techs got of work and walking part way home with them. It was uncomfortable, but to her estimation, worth it.

"Please let there not be another one." Kayleigh uttered the familiar prayer as she walked in the staff door of the lab. Seeing Sage stood there was like a physical blow, the knowledge that there was another young mutant woman on the table making her feel physically sick. She could feel her hair shifting to match her distress, heading further towards the white of fear than the grey-black of depression.

She walked towards where Sage was standing talking to a tall, well built black man. 'This must be her partner…' Kayleigh thought to herself. 'Lucky bastard,' she added.

She overheard the last of their conversation as she went to make her presence known.

"She was taken in broad daylight again," the man Kayleigh was assuming to be Lucas said. "But this time from right outside her own home."

Kayleigh's thoughts ballooned at this. Now the bastard was taking them from right outside their homes, right near families, friends, safety. It was only a matter of time before…

"Kayleigh?" Sage's voice cut through her thought pattern, neatly disrupting the chain of thoughts that threatened to overwhelm her. "It's good to see you again. I'd like you to meet Lucas Bishop. My partner."

Responding to the usual social conventions, Kayleigh reached for the hand that was offered and shook it, using the few seconds as a reprieve to pull herself together. "Nice to meet you," she managed to stammer.

"You too miss Del'Cairn. Sage has complemented your skill at your profession."

Kayleigh took a closer look at Bishop as he talked, taking in the non-threatening face with its interesting tattoo, and the bulk of the man underneath the leather. Oddly, she wasn't afraid of him.

"Well, I'd best go down and start scrubbing up. Got an autopsy to do if you're going to catch this guy…" she said with false brightness. "I'll be waiting when you get down Sage."

"It's alright I'll take the elevator with you. Bishop has other things to be doing." She turned briefly back to Lucas. "I'll see you later Lucas."

"You too Sage," came Bishop's reply. "Nice to meet you Kayleigh."

"And you. Bye," said Kayleigh, forcing a smile. 'Fucking lucky bastard…' she thought.

The ride down in the elevator was silent and Kayleigh kept expecting Sage to ask her about her hair or talk to her about the case, but the silence remained between them.

"He was friendly." Kayleigh said, trying again to make conversation as she scrubbed. Sage nodded but was otherwise quiet as if although she was still taking in data she was preoccupied with processing it.

Kayleigh sighed and went to pick up her equipment tray. As she did she caught another glimpse of the body on the table, causing her fears to pour back in, and her body to shake. She dropped the tray.

"Fucking shite." She swore vehemently, cursing both the extra work she'd made herself, her clumsiness and the way she just made herself look in front of Sage. So much for being professional. And to make matters worse, no matter hard she tried, she couldn't make her hands stop shaking.

"Are you ok?" Sage's voice from behind her as she bent down to pick up the mess caused her to jump, and again the instruments clattered to the floor. Kayleigh sat down on the floor in defeat. "Something has got you spooked." Sage stated, not even bothering to ask the question when the answer was right in front of her.

"Aye. It's this fucking serial killer." Kayleigh shook her head. She still couldn't stop shaking. Sake knelt down beside her and took Kayleigh's hands in her own.

"Go on," she urged softly. "It might help if you tell me."

"It's not like I'm not used to seeing dead bodies. I've seen them in as many different stages of death and from as many different causes as have been invented. But, the way this bastard kills, it's personal. It's beyond personal. He stares into their fucking eyes as he kills them. He watches as they slip away and he fucking well enjoys it."

"Is there anything else?" said asked softly.

"The people he targets. All young female mutants. People like her…" she trailed off, pointing at the autopsy table.

"People like you." Sage finished for her.

"No. I'm probably just being paranoid." Kayleigh shook her head, "in fact, I know I'm being bloody paranoid, just like the other night."

"Oh?" Sage asked, not taking her eyes from Kayleigh's face.

"Yeah. I was on my way home and I tripped over. It made my hair change, and then I thought I saw some guy following me. I ran all the way home. And then I go out the next evening to run to work and I see him 3 doors down waving goodbye to his wife. I was just being paranoid."

"I'm sure you were," Sage said gently "is there anything that I can do to help?"

"Well… erm, I was thinking that I could do with a little help in self defence." Said Kayleigh, figuring that it couldn't hurt to ask.

"Here. Take this." Said Sage, unholstering a small gun from her hip and offering it to Kayleigh. "I have several more."

"I'm not taking that!" Kayleigh said indignantly. She'd thought better of Sage. "I've seen the harm that guns can do, up close and personal. Do you know how many victims of not only gun crime but gun accidents I get in here? Do you?" she raged, slamming Sage's open hand away.

"I'm sorry. I misjudged this." Sage said awkwardly, holstering the gun.

"Its ok." Said Kayleigh, still fuming. "What I was thinking was more along the lines of some basic self defence moves. After all, you look like you know how to take care of yourself, without having to use those." She glared at Sage's guns again.

"Yes, I do. I carry them for more extreme circumstances," replied Sage.

"So, will you teach me?" She asked; only half hoping Sage would say yes.

"Yes." Said Sage. "Is after your shift a good time?"

"Sure, I mean, if you want to hang around that long." Said Kayleigh, feeling drained and mildly embarrassed now that her anger had died down.

"It's not a problem. Bishop can go out into the field and I'll get all the information through these." Sage patted the glasses hanging on her belt.

"So I'm guessing those aren't ordinary glasses then." Kayleigh grinned to show that she was being rhetorical. Feeling a lot better she moved back over to the autopsy table and looked adown at the body.

The woman was in her late twenties and showed no apparent signs of being a mutant. However, Kayleigh knew from her notes that she gave off minor electrical discharge. The distraught boyfriend who'd reported her missing had told them so. "She was a human tazer Sage, a fucking walking self-defence weapon. And the bastard still got her. What chance is there for anyone else?" Kayleigh looked at Sage hopelessly.

"It all depends on how much you know about protecting yourself, and I'm going to help you with that."

"Alright." She looked away from Sage and back at the body. As with the last victim this woman had dark hair and pale skin that was marred by light bruising and a split lip. This bastard was one sick fucker. She nodded to Sage and started the recorder.

This autopsy followed the same pattern as the others, with Kayleigh having to question Sage twice on things that could be, and were, parts of the woman's mutation. As with the others she had been strangled, there was no sign of sexual assault and there was nothing of her attacker left on her.

Kayleigh frowned, frustrated with this lack of evidence. "Did you get anything about the attacker from any of the other victims?" she asked Sage as she removed her gloves and started to clean up.

"No." said Sage, "I've got nothing, no DNA, no trace, nothing. If this guy were human, I would have caught him by now. It can only mean that he is a mutant and somehow his mutation is keeping him one step ahead of me." Sage sounded as frustrated as Kayleigh was, and Kayleigh wasn't sure what to say to that. Luckily, Sage took it out of her hands.

"I'm sure that you have plenty of other work to do, and I must meet with Bishop and fill him in on these developments. I'll meet you upstairs at the end of your shift. Is that ok?"

"That's fine. I'll see you later." Said Kayleigh.

The rest of the shift passed quickly with Kayleigh's mind focusing more on the upcoming self-defence lesson. Thoughts such as 'have I tidied up?', 'what will she think of my home?' and 'why am I feeling like this?' flashing through her mind. Luckily she was able to keep the thoughts fairly quiet, and so keep her hair fairly calm.

Finally the end of her shift rolled around and Kayleigh made her way up to the entrance, feeling much more confident now that she knew she wasn't going to be completely defenceless. Arriving there she saw Sage waiting patiently for her, not quite smiling at the way she hurried over.

"Hey," said Kayleigh smiling, tensely, "so, um, are you ready to go?"

"Yes. I hope you don't mind me taking us there on my bike." Sage replied.

So that was the reason for all the leather Sage wears, Kayleigh thought. It finally made sense. However, she was slightly apprehensive about going on a motorbike, and told Sage as much.

"It'll be ok." Sage assured her, "I'm the safest person you could ride with. After all, I calculate everything.

"Alright," said Kayleigh, hoping she wouldn't embarrass herself. She hoped she wouldn't regret saying yes.

A chirpy voice calling out "hey, 'Leigh? Is this nice detective bothering you?" broke through her nervous contemplation. The voice was followed by a bouncing blonde head over an awful Hawaiian shirt covered by a lab coat.

"Hey Greg." Kayleigh cringed a little at the over exuberant labtech, "this is Sage. She's going to teach me some self-defence. Sage, this hyperactive blonde hooligan of a lab tech here is Greg."

"So, you're the genius DNA technician." Sage said quirking an eyebrow. Greg would have set off the gaydar in rocks.

"And you're the XSE detective that everyone's talking about for one reason or another. Now we've said who we are, 'Leigh, I guess you don't need me to walk you home today."

"No thanks Greg. I'll see you tomorrow though." Kayleigh waved goodbye to Greg and followed Sage out to where her bike was parked.

She gave Sage the directions to her apartment, reflecting that it was nice that she wouldn't have to give them twice, and got on the back of the bike with her. The journey home was far faster than it had ever been, and she recognised few of the landmarks as they flew past. The thrill of the speed was both terrifying and exhilarating and Kayleigh found that she trusted Sage enough to relax behind her. The ride ended far too soon, although when Kayleigh got off the bike she found she was shaking slightly.


	4. Chapter 4

Thank Yous:

Kyalesyin – Glad that you like it and don't think that Kayleigh was too Mary-Sueish. I worked really hard on her to ensure that. I'm glad that you can't wait to see what else happens, hope you like where this is going.

CrimsonWhisper – Glad that you also liked it, and that you don't feel too bad about what happens to you when you are embarrassed. I was aiming for a really minor mutation, and just kinda came up with it. Hope you enjoy the rest of this story.

Steel Sapphires and Shattered Emeralds

Chapter 4

Her head didn't actually clear until they'd gotten through the door of her apartment. She turned to Sage as she closed the door, not sure what to say to get the ball rolling. Talking to Sage in her home was entirely different to talking her in the mortuary. "Do you want a cup of tea before we begin?" she tried.

"No, thank you," said Sage, looking around briefly before adding, "I find that caffeine interferes with my concentration. I wouldn't mind water or fruit juice if you have it."

"Uhhh sure…" Kayleigh rummaged in her cupboards for a second, "apple juice good for you?"

"Yes, thank you," said Sage, accepting the glass of juice from Kayleigh, who then poured one for herself.

The two women drank in awkward silence for a moment before Kayleigh blushed and said "I'd better go and get changed, I'll be with you in a minute. The lounge is just through there." She pointed, and then half-sprinted to her bedroom. She felt slightly awkward leaving anyone, let alone Sage alone in her kitchen, but she needed to change into something suitable. Something that didn't smell faintly of dead people.

Looking through her wardrobe, Kayleigh despaired. She had no suitable tops. She still had an old pair of cotton gym trousers and a good sports bra, but her last t-shirt had gone to rags over 6 months ago. Sighing, she grabbed a fresh shirt and hoped that it would do. She also tied her hair into a shorter plait, knowing that it would only get in the way otherwise.

She found Sage still in the kitchen where she had left her and led her through into the lounge, where they quickly cleared a space in the centre. There wasn't much to clear. Kayleigh's apartment was somewhat Spartan.

They stood and looked at each other for a moment. Kayleigh struggled for something to say. "Should we warm up first?" she suggested. It had been a while since she'd done any serious exercise, as shown by the layer of dust covering her one exercise tape and the distinct lack of suitable clothing. She knew she'd have to warm up not to do herself an injury.

"Yes. Sage said simply. She turned away from Kayleigh and began stretching, her body contorting further that Kayleigh thought possible. Momentarily distracted by the sight of such athletic beauty Kayleigh paused mid-stretch and found her mouth running away without her.

"Wow…" she said, "you're as graceful as a…" Kayleigh's brain caught up with her mouth and she panicked trying to find a suitable comparison. 'As graceful as a… swan? Cat? Panther? Rattlesnake… Rattlesnake? Yeah, now that's going to go down well now isn't it,' she thought desperately. 'Quick, say something, she's going to think you're a fucking idiot…' "Erm, graceful thing." Kayleigh finished lamely.

"Indeed." Sage said quirking an eyebrow and smirking slightly, not quite smiling outright. "Lets begin. Shall we?"

First Sage showed Kayleigh how to fall and take her weight when she landed, reasoning that there was no use in teaching her to break someone's grip if she injured herself falling over. Then, once she had mastered that, they moved on to the most basic methods of breaking someone's hold.

"Now, if someone tries to grab you, like this…" Sage demonstrated by grabbing Kayleigh tightly by the arm. Kayleigh almost missed the next thing Sage said, her mind focusing more on the tingle that was spreading from Sage's hand towards her scalp. After a second, Sage's voice shook her out of her trance. "Kayleigh? Are you paying attention?"

"Sorry, you what?" Kayleigh blinked and shook her head. Miraculously, her hair behaved itself.

"I said are you ready to try and break my hold?" Sage asked, demonstrating again what Kayleigh needed to do.

"What… oh, yeah," Kayleigh shook her head and concentrated. Sage stepped forward and grabbed Kayleigh by the arm again. Kayleigh stepped back slightly, to weaken Sage's grip and pull her off balance, before finding the pressure spot in Sage's wrist that made her fingers release.

"Good." Sage said warmly, "You used to be a dancer?"

"Gymnast actually, but that was a long time ago though, while I was still in school." Kayleigh shrugged. "My fitness levels are nowhere near what they once were."

"Maybe not, but the muscle memory is still there. You are quite fast." Said Sage. "That will be an advantage if you need to hit somebody before they hit you. Or if you need to get away from somebody."

Sage continued to teach Kayleigh a selection of basic self-defence moves, some of which Kayleigh got first time, others of which ended up with her on the floor and swearing like a trooper. Throughout it all, Kayleigh managed to keep a tight leash on her hair, only having a few flashes of annoyance and embarrassment. As they practiced, Sage asked Kayleigh how she was feeling about the case. She found the conversation far easier when they had something else to focus on.

"It's getting to me I'll admit. This psycho is so damned cold and personal; it makes me scared of what he'll do next." She managed to break Sage's hold this time, and broke into the happy dance before realising that not only was she not alone but Sage was still standing there and not down on the ground where she was supposed to be at the end of that move.

After an hour of practise they came to a natural stopping point, with Sage promising to teach her more next time she was in town. Kayleigh was surprised at how much better she felt knowing a few basic moves. Still scared sure, but more prepared, just in case.

"Fancy a bite to eat?" Kayleigh asked Sage, aware of the embarrassing growls from her stomach.

"That would be good," Sage replied, adjusting her hair where it had come loose.

"I've got a pizza, I hope that's ok." She said, and then remembered something. "Oh shite. I've only got one big plate, so we're gonna have to share. If that's a problem I can do something else, I think I've got two bowls and…"

"It won't be a problem."

The pizza didn't take long to cook, and soon they were sat on opposite sides of the kitchen table, plate between them, a cup of fruit tea each and both far more relaxed in each other's company. This time, it was Sage that initiated the conversation. "So, why did you leave Ireland?" she asked.

"Home, southern Ireland, was nice but small. My family lived in a small town where if you weren't related to someone, you knew someone that was. A small town where everyone knew everything within hours. When they found out I was a mutant, well it wasn't a very friendly place. Mutants weren't understood, just hated and feared. I was in school the first time," she sighed slightly before continuing.

"Not a fun experience and nobody believed me when I told them that it changed all by itself until they saw it. It took about 8 weeks for it to go from changing every other day to it changing every time my emotions shifted."

"It doesn't change that often now." Sage remarked, interrupted briefly.

"No, but mostly because I keep myself very distant and removed, and I'm no longer a volatile, hormonal adolescent. If I keep a lid on how I feel I can pretend that I'm a brunette. Fun really. It took me a while to learn. My parents were a great help though. First time I came home crying with my hair all black and grey Ma sat down with me and made me a headscarf. Nice long one too, so I could wrap my hair all the way down to my waist. I used to be really proud of my hair you know."

"Do you resent it now?" Sage asked. Kayleigh had a suspicion that Sage was studying her, but let it drop. People had to have hobbies after all.

"Not really," said Kayleigh, "people are predictable. They can only ever seem to find the same few insults, the same few ideas. It all just brushes off these days. Besides my hair actually takes good care of itself. Hurts like hell to cut, which is why I keep it so long, but I never seem to get split ends."

"Did you try to cut it?" Sage asked.

Kayleigh nodded slowly. "They tried. I screamed and passed out, it hurt that much. I don't quite understand it, but it's mostly not a problem. Even now though, if I have it trimmed it takes a strong drink and some painkillers. Lucky for me I have a very understanding hairdresser. But it did mean that I had to quit gymnastics, I lost all hope of dating anyone and it didn't do a lot for my father's reputation." She shook her head, slightly disgusted.

"He actually had to be checked to make sure he wasn't a mutant too. I was lucky to not have been expelled from school. That in itself would have been enough to have him loose his job. He's a magistrate, one of the most respected in the whole damn country, but anyone tries to throw him off balance, even now, they always use me. I guess for that, I resent it."

"Does that hurt?" enquired Sage.

"What do you think?" snorted Kayleigh. "It was bad enough that he had to watch his friend's kids throwing bricks at me, but having them question his judgement for not having disowned me?" she shook her head.

"Most of the kids from home didn't go to university, or if they did they went to one that was close by. As soon as I could I went as far away as I dared. I was amazed. I'd hardly left my hometown for fear of it being worse elsewhere, but nobody even looked twice at me when I was wandering around the city centre or the university campus. I actually made some pretty good friends, though my best friends were all Americans. I dated at bit too, although it was spoiled somewhat that I didn't have the guts to ask out any of the girls. I fought my sexuality for a long time. I still have… issues with it."

"Because being a mutant was bad enough. Being a gay mutant probably would have got you killed?" Sage suggested.

"Yeah. That and no matter how hard I tried, my hair just doesn't do the fucking pride flag." They both laughed. "I picked here over England or somewhere equally liberal like Canada because I made some really good friends in university. I stayed here with them until I found my feet. My parents paid for the flight over. There was a media shitstorm about my dad 'finally getting rid of me' and all that, but he didn't actually disown me, contrary to popular belief. We still talk. I even send him ships in bottles when I find them," she pointed to a bottle on the kitchen side before continuing.

"He can't understand how I do my job, and I don't get why he still does his. I keep meaning to go home, but nobody there knows me any more. At least I had some friends once. Now their children will throw things at me. I'm better off here." She stared into her teacup, realising that the orange liquid had cone cold without her even noticing. She looked at the kitchen clock and blushed scarlet again. "Jesus, it's late, I'm sorry. That was one hell of a ramble. You must be tired." Kayleigh babbled quickly. "You're not used to doing nights and…"

"It's all right. I find your story fascinating," Sage said. "And I'm not that tired. I don't tend to sleep much."

"Oh." Said Kayleigh. Having been stopped mid flow, it was hard to work out what to say next. "I'm all out of routine…" she managed to stammer, "normally, I've had a shower by now, and I should nearly be in bed… where are you staying tonight?"

"Bishop and I are booked into one of the hotels near the police station." Sage replied, stifling a yawn.

Kayleigh paused where she was rinsing the mugs and bit her lip, glancing at the morning sun streaming through the window. "Look," she said, "it's been a long day, and I'd be happier if you didn't travel this morning. Even someone with a computer mind needs to shut down sometimes. I've got some spare bedding if you want to kip in the lounge for a while. That is, if Bishop won't mind."

"You're right." Said Sage, "I'm in no fit state to travel, and I'm sure Bishop won't mind. I'll take the couch. Thanks."

"You'd be better off on the floor. That couch is piece of shite, no matter how comfortable it looks."

"Thank you for the advice." Sage said, stifling another yawn

"Are you sure he won't mind?" Kayleigh asked, helping Sage pull the larger cushions off the couch.

"Why should he?" asked Sage, stopping to look at her.

"Well, he is your partner. I mean, when you said that, you meant he was your boyfriend, right?"

Sage looked like she was a few seconds away from laughing out loud. "No. He is not my boyfriend. I mean partner purely in the sense of him being my work colleague and good friend. We work on cases together. We have separate hotel rooms." Kayleigh nodded, since there was little she could say to that without making herself look stupid, and disappeared into her bedroom to find the aforesaid bedding. When she returned, Sage was rummaging through a small leather bag that she'd brought in from her bike.

"I'm afraid it's not much." Kayleigh said, handing over the bedding.

"That's ok. I've slept on worse."

Kayleigh bid Sage a good night and left her setting up her bed on the floor while she went to shower. Closing the door behind her she started to strip, throwing the clothes at the wash basket. Her hair had flared purple as soon as she'd closed the door and was confident she was alone. 'Calm down girl, calm the fuck down.' She thought to herself. 'Just because she's staying over doesn't mean anything. You're just being friendly.'

Hissing in frustration she got into the shower, once again having it cold to try to diffuse her frustration and knowing that she couldn't do anything else this time. She didn't dare with Sage in the apartment.

Kayleigh slept fitfully that night, at least to start with. No matter how much you trust someone, the first time they sleep in the same place as you, you always wonder if they're going to try and kill you in your sleep, and Kayleigh wasn't used to having someone else around.

Once Kayleigh had woken up a dozen times to reassure herself there was no deadly woman in the shadows, she settled into a deeper sleep than she had for the past fortnight, only waking when her alarm screamed at her.

Wandering groggily into the front room Kayleigh found it empty, except for a neatly stacked pile of bedding and a piece of note paper. There was no sign of Sage. She picked up the note and read it, a slight smile appearing.

'Kayleigh,  
Thank you very much for the bed.  
You were right about me needing to sleep.  
Sorry I left so early, but something came up.  
You needed your sleep so I didn't wake you.  
I hope to see you again.  
Sage.'


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry about the delay in posting this, life got on top of me.

Thank Yous:

CrimsonWhisper: I'm glad that you are enjoying this, and I hope that you continue to enjoy this. There are still a few twists and turns left before the ending.

Steel Sapphires and Shattered Emeralds

Chapter 5

Kayleigh got to see Sage again soon, sooner than she would have liked given the circumstances. She was waiting this time down in the morgue when Kayleigh got back off her break, looking at the body of another young woman. Kayleigh joined her for a moment before cursing.

"She's not a mutant Sage. The bastard is branching out." She shook her head; more scared she'd been before. If he became unpredictable things would get a hell of a lot worse.

"No. She is exactly his type. Same height as the others, long dark hair and she is a mutant, only not obviously. If anything, he is refining his methods."

Kayleigh thought back to the past 4 cases, and realised that Sage was right. They did all fit the same type. "So, what was her mutation?"

Sage paused for a second, looking up the information. "She could see up to three times as far as a normal person, a minor mutation really. He seems to favour them."

"This means that he has some way of knowing that they are mutants." Kayleigh said slowly.

"I'm beginning to suspect very minor telepathy. It would explain how he gets them to leave without a fight. She was taken from outside her office, during the day, in plain sight. And nobody saw a thing." 'Again' Kayleigh added to that mentally.

"Holy flying fuck…" seeing the look she got from Sage Kayleigh had the grace to look sheepish. "Sorry. Its just, how the hell are you supposed to catch him?"

"He'll slip up eventually, and when he does I'll be there waiting for him," Sage sounded cold and determined, "but I'm going to need as much information as possible."

"Point taken. Let's be getting this over with," said Kayleigh grimly. As with the last one, this autopsy just confirmed what they both already knew. Death by strangulation with bare hands, a few more bruises than last time and a spilt lip.

This was Kayleigh's last corpse of the day, and as she cleaned up Sage stuck around to compare points about the case. Going up to the entrance with her, Sage offered to give her a lift home and as almost an afterthought added, "we can continue with those self defence lessons if you like."

"That'd be great, thanks. I mean, if it's no trouble." Kayleigh replied, trying to cover her enthusiasm.

Before she knew it, Kayleigh was at home, warming up in a cleared space in the centre of her living room. This time, her runaway mouth behaved. They reviewed what Sage had taught her last time, and Kayleigh remembered the lessons well. When she had demonstrated that she was adept at the basics Sage decided to show her some more advanced techniques.

"I'm going to start you off on something more difficult this time," Sage explained. "The principal is simple, but timing it right is harder. If someone kicks for your knees, or lower, step back like I showed you. If someone kicks for your midriff, like this…" she demonstrated, "try and catch it. They won't be expecting it and if you step back and pull them past you, you can get them off balance, if not throw them right over."

Kayleigh nodded. She understood the basic mechanics, and her balance was still pretty good. She just hoped she could pull this one off without fucking up. She was concentrating so hard on impressing Sage and not fucking up that when she caught Sage's leg and stepped and pulled, she didn't notice until it was too late that she had stepped too far back and seriously unbalanced herself.

As Kayleigh went over backwards she took Sage with her, and it was only Sage's quick thinking that stopped Kayleigh's head impacting the wooden floor. Unfortunately it didn't save her shoulder or Sage's knees. This left them in an extremely intimate position, with Kayleigh flat on her back underneath Sage, who was straddling her lower ribs, with her right hand providing balance next to Kayleigh's head, her left hand cupping that back of Kayleigh's head, having protected it from the impact of hitting the floor. From her position, all Kayleigh could see in front of her face was Sage's leather clad chest.

'Oh my fucking Christ…' Kayleigh's thoughts gasped as she felt her hair shift. Not only her hair, but her eyebrows as well, to a violent purple. 'Could things get any worse?' She wondered. Sage's next words confirmed that yes, things could get worse and God was indeed a bastard.

"I arouse you." Sage stated in a tone that left no room for discussion, a self-satisfied smirk on her lips. Kayleigh looked up at her wide-eyed and whimpered, not daring to speak. Sage's smirk deepened and as she moved her left hand out from under Kayleigh's head it brushed down across a nipple as hard as a diamond. Kayleigh's eyelashes joined the rest of her facial hair in its purpleness.

Sage's now free hand continued to the top button of Kayleigh's shirt, undid it with a great deal of skill and continued to the second. Before Kayleigh could catch up with what was happening Sage had finished with that and was on to the third.

'This is wrong.' Kayleigh thought, ignoring the part of her that was screaming for her to let Sage continue. 'I've got to stop her. But if I do, I'll never get the chance again to… fuck it. I can at least do this before I stop her.' Kayleigh lifted a hand up to Sage's head and pulled her in for a kiss, aiming for passionate. Instead she got chaste, as the minute Sage felt the kiss she pulled back, as if in shock.

"Why did you do that?" she demanded, as if Kayleigh had committed a crime. She had a sharp frown crossing her features as she settled on the floor, several feet from where they had been lying.

"Because I knew I had to stop you, and I knew I'd never get a chance to do that again," Kayleigh admitted, figuring that the truth couldn't make things any worse.

"Why would you stop me? I arouse you and…"

Kayleigh interrupted. "Aye, you arouse me. I think it's obvious by this." She said, pulling her plait around. "But you also fascinate me. There is more to you than just your body."

"What do you want from me? I'm willing to let you have my body." Sage said accusingly. She was scarily calm again.

"I want to know more than just your body. I want to know you, to know the woman behind the detective. I don't just want a fuck." Kayleigh said, slightly upset and frustrated, "I am not that shallow." Kayleigh felt her hair shift from purple to a very dark angry blue.

"I didn't say you were…" Sage began

"No buts." Kayleigh interrupted. "I may not be looking for true love, but sex, making love, is more to me than just a quick fuck with breakfast. If I wanted that I'd go and sit in a bar for ten minutes. I want this to mean something."

"I'm sorry." Said Sage calmly. "I didn't mean to offend you. These things are awkward to me, even now."

"Why do you say that?" Kayleigh questioned, pushing gently now that Sage had opened up a little.

"I've had a troubled and painful past, one that I don't like to dwell on. But needless to say that love didn't come into the picture at all and sex was a commodity to be sold and traded. Kisses were far too expensive to deal in. I was badly betrayed by that part of my past. Bits of it still haunt me."

"Oh." Was all Kayleigh could say to start with. "So, if we had sex, would you have enjoyed it?"

"Yes. I only have sex with people I'm going to enjoy it with… now anyway."

"Oh. Alright." Was all Kayleigh could say. Her head was whirling. It was hard to imagine anyone being able to make Sage do anything she didn't want to.

"So why does it make you so angry?" Sage asked. Kayleigh sighed. Sage had just opened up a hell of a lot, and if she didn't give her something to fill the void things would only get more awkward. She shuffled closer to Sage, who made no attempt to move away.

"Its all to do with my last partner, my boyfriend. Everything started out perfectly. I had just arrived from Ireland, got this place and then I found him. He didn't even care about my mutation, not to start with. Then, after about six months, things started to change. Whenever we went out with his mates, he'd do things to set off my mutation."

"Things?" Sage asked.

"Oh, things like groping me under the table and embarrassing me. He did it to show off to his mates. I don't think they actually liked me, no, I know they didn't like me. Towards the end I wound up just being a bit of fun." Sage nodded, watching her intently.

"I put up with it for a month; I told myself that it would stop. But it didn't, and then the last straw came. We were waiting in line to go into a club, and his friends joined us. Of course, he tried to wind me up, telling me to flash at the bouncers, and when I didn't accusing me of being a killjoy and frigid. Since he'd done everything else possible to set me off, he decided to slap me, give them all a good laugh when I went blue."

"What did you do?" asked Sage. Kayleigh wasn't sure if she was contemplating killing him.

"I punched him. Put him on his fucking skinny ass and walked away. Got applauded for it too. This was nearly six years ago, and I still haven't regained my faith in things like this. Anyways, now we've both bared our chequered pasts, I'm about ready to kill for a drink. I've got whiskey if you want it." She laughed slightly harshly.

"No, thanks." Sage said, standing. "I only ever really drink wine." They headed into the kitchen.

"Fair enough." Kayleigh shrugged. "Fruit tea then?" she poured herself a double whiskey and knocked it back expertly, and then began putting together two cups of fruit tea.

"Since we're almost certainly facing a telepath," Sage said as Kayleigh put a steaming cup in front of her, "it would probably be wise to teach you how to defend yourself against a psychic attack. I doubt that being able to throw someone will be much use if they are already inside your head."

"That sounds like a good idea and all…" Kayleigh began, before warning lights went off in her brain. Would Sage be able to hear her thoughts? Control her somehow? She didn't even know Sage had any telepathic ability and…. She realised she was sat staring at Sage with her mouth open. The other woman's expression was hard to read, but she seemed amused. "Fine." Kayleigh said sheepishly.

"Try not to panic." Sage said. "The first time will feel strange, perhaps similar to taking off in a plane. Your eyes may hurt a little."

Sage wasn't joking when she said it would feel strange. Kayleigh's train of thought began with 'holy fucking flying cows…' and stopped when she realised that Sage could possibly already hear her.

'Kayleigh?' Hearing without using her ears was a bizarre sensation, and Kayleigh had to fight the urge to look behind her. Across the table Sage's eyes were closed, her breathing steady.

'You didn't tell me you were a telepath.' Thought Kayleigh quietly, deciding it was best not to make too much noise. She remembered Sage saying that she had other abilities but hadn't realised that it was telepathy.

'I have enemies who would use it against me given the chance.' Said Sage. 'I keep it shut down normally, but I doubt we are in any danger at this moment in time.' She paused for a fraction of a second. 'And no, I can't control you. But if you're going to think that loudly, I have no choice but to hear them.'

Kayleigh panicked, and lost control of the hundreds of little thoughts that usually buzzed around in the background of her mind. For the past few weeks, most of those little thoughts had been thinking about sex. With Sage. She felt Sage wince as the volume rose, and then a strange cold feeling as the other woman withdrew from her mind.

"I'm sorry!" Kayleigh began as soon as Sage looked up, "I mean, if you heard anything, which I'm hoping you didn't and all since it was really noisy in there please don't take it the wrong way or anything and…"

Sage interrupted. "Never mind that. It's not important. Now that you know roughly what someone entering your head feels like, I can show you how to counter it. Everyone feels slightly different, and not everyone finds it as difficult as I do. My ability in this area is limited, which is why my presence is so obvious."

Kayleigh nodded, very red in the face. She knew without looking that her hair was pink. She also knew that Sage had probably heard every word while she had been in her head. A mind like that didn't miss much. Thankfully, Sage saw no need to bring up the issue, and after several successful telepathic conversations she was satisfied that Kayleigh could shield herself, at least briefly, against an attack.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Kayleigh asked as the conversation between them stagnated. "I don't know about you, but I'm too fucking tired to eat now, and I need a shower."

"I'm not that hungry." Sage said, effectively killing the entire conversation.

Kayleigh found that yet again there was an awkward silence stretching in front of her that she couldn't seem to break. "Well… ah… I need to have a shower and…" she started babbling again.

"I should probably contact Bishop." Sage said shortly.

"Right, uh…" Kayleigh mentally crossed her fingers. "I wouldn't mind some company while I was showering."

Sage looked up. Her face softened slightly. "I could do with a shower as well. I'll let Bishop know I'll be here a while longer."

"If you want…" Kayleigh began, aware now that she might be pushing too far.

"Yes?" asked Sage.

"You could stay here for a few days. I mean, this fucking bastard isn't going away any time soon, and it's silly you staying in hotels and all. You may as well base here until this all clears up. They're getting closer together after all. Soon, it might not be worth you going home, and I've got a bed I can share, in a completely non-sexual kind of way. The floor is ok for one night, but you'd be bettor off in the bed."

"Thank you." Said Sage. "I'm sure Bishop will be able to make alternate arrangements. I'll join you in a minute."

"Alright." Kayleigh said, hoping her voice didn't betray the fact that she had butterflies. "The bathroom is just down the hall. I'll be in the shower. It takes a minute for the water to heat up." She explained.

"I'll see you in there." said Sage, smiling more than Kayleigh had so far seen. As Sage left Kayleigh wondered if she was doing the right thing. Sage had offered to sleep with her, something she desperately wanted, and she'd turned her down. Not only turned her down but then told her what she really wanted. And then invited her to share a shower. Oh god… what was she thinking.

But it was done and she didn't want to have to take it back. She wanted to see Sage naked in the shower, wanted to get closer to her. Sighing, she shed her dirty clothes into the laundry basket in her room and walked into the shower room.

She stood for a moment in front of the mirror, checking her body and hoping that it was good enough, that it wasn't too chunky. Shrugging, since there wasn't much she could do, she got into the shower and set it to warm. She had just got her hair wet when Sage arrived in the bathroom. Kayleigh turned at the sound of the door closing and watched as Sage stood looking at her.

"Are you going to join me?" Kayleigh offered.

Sage nodded, and began to strip off, which was an education for Kayleigh. She started with the heavy belt, undoing it and pulling it off, and then moved on to her close-fitting top. She slid the strap off the one shoulder it was on and pulled it off over her head, revealing a black silk strapless bra that made her skin look marble-white.

As she turned to take off her boots Kayleigh got a good view of her naked back. Although it was as pale as the rest of her, it was criss-crossed with slightly paler marks, the signs of old and long-healed scars. Kayleigh made a mental note not to ask Sage about them, as she was sure that it was a part of the past that Sage didn't want to talk about.

Sage's trousers soon followed her top, belt, boots and bra into a neat pile on the floor. They revealed a skintight black silk thong, and Kayleigh found herself glad that she was in a cool shower and knew that her hair was blazing purple.

Sage reached up and unbound her hair, shaking it gently free of the plait that had bound it up. Loose, it fell almost to her waist, and Kayleigh had to stifle a gasp of amazement. It was a lot longer than it looked, much longer.

Sage's body was perfectly proportioned and more elegant in its nakedness than it had been clothed. Kayleigh found herself wondering how many people had seen the same view, and then told herself that she should feel lucky to see it, no matter what.

Kayleigh moved slightly in the shower to make room for Sage.

There wasn't much room in the cubicle, and they found themselves nose to nose. It was then that Kayleigh realised that they were exactly the same height. She only thought Sage taller because she wore heels. Ok, sure, so her hips had a few inches on Sage's, but that didn't matter much.

She turned to the side awkwardly, stepping forward so that Sage could get under the water. Sage's arms slipped around her waist, and Kayleigh gasped. She hadn't been expecting that. Sage's breasts were pressing against her back, and she could feel Sage's breath against the side of her neck. She looked down. It appeared that all the hair on her body was now a universal shade of purple.

She shrugged mentally and relaxed back into Sage's arms, letting the warm running water run over them both. Her hair hung heavily behind her, and she wondered idly what it felt like to Sage.

She was constantly aware of Sage's eyes on her body, pretending to avoid looking in certain places. Kayleigh found herself doing the same. More than once Kayleigh found herself pushed up against the cold glass of the shower door, and the resulting tingle and hardness that came from that left Kayleigh slightly embarrassed and trying to cover her nipples up.

Turning around after one such encounter with the door she found two of Sage's fingers coming to rest delicately under her chin. Kayleigh's eyes met hers, and their lips brushed gently together. The tips of their tongues met. The kiss deepened gently. Had Sage kissed her like that while they were on the floor, Kayleigh reflected, they'd both probably still be there now. Naked.

They broke off gently and looked at each other again. Kayleigh brushed a strand of wet hair from Sage's face and smiled. "We'd probably better get clean. Maybe we can finish this another time, when we've got the time." Kayleigh said, reaching for the soap.

"Indeed." Said Sage softly. The tip of her tongue tasted her bottom lip gently. "I would like that."

They had ended up both using Kayleigh's toiletries, and now both smelled faintly of lavender. She nodded towards the set of spare towels that she'd gotten out of the bedroom and began drying herself with her normal towel set. It took very little time for them to get as far as her bedroom. Kayleigh climbed in to her usual pair of pyjamas, while Sage pulled a pair of soft green silk ones from her own bag.

Kayleigh moved over to the bedside table and reached for her alarm, setting it to her normal evening wake-up. She got into bed and pulled the covers back on the other side. "Are you coming to bed?" she asked Sage, who was stood there looking at the bed. It really was more than big enough for both of them. Sage nodded, and climbed in next to her. As sleep claimed her, she wondered if this time, Sage would still be there when she woke up in the afternoon.

That afternoon found Kayleigh curled up tightly around Sage, both of them deeply asleep and both of them oblivious to the world. Sage was the first to wake, off balance and sleep fogged. She felt the arms around her, realised the quilt was over her head and panicked. She was not used to being in bed with anyone, and claustrophobia and bad memories gripped her, fear crawling over her as she fought down panic and wormed her way gently out of the arms.

Once she was standing Sage looked down at the body in the bed. The sight of Kayleigh pulled her back into the present, but the panic was still rising above her normal calm. She headed to the bathroom, desperate not to break down in front of Kayleigh.

Kayleigh woke up as Sage left the room and slipped out of bed to follow her. Standing outside the bathroom she listened and heard Sage telling herself to pull herself together, and after a few moments, the sound of a slap.

Kayleigh hurried towards the kitchen, determined not to let Sage catch her listening. She was both disturbed and intrigued by what she had heard. She started making herself her morning cup of tea, and washed out a glass for Sage. She knew she should have more than one set of crockery, but it had never bothered her before. After all, six and a half years of living on her own meant that she didn't need more than that.

"Morning." She said as Sage came into the kitchen, paler than normal but otherwise calm and collected. "Is apple juice ok again?" she asked. Sage nodded, and helped herself to the juice in the fridge. She didn't saw a word about her reaction on waking up, and Kayleigh didn't either. "Would you like some breakfast?" she asked, hoping for a more verbal response this time."

"Please." Sage nodded. "Toast would be nice."

"That's good, because toast is pretty much all I have. I wasn't expecting any company." Kayleigh said brightly.

"It's ok. Anything is better than a hotel breakfast." Sage said. Kayleigh wasn't sure if this was an attempt at humour.

"Would you like me to do you some lunch? Erm…" Kayleigh caught up with what she was saying, "I mean, I always do myself lunch, to take into work, although I guess you'd call it dinner and I was just wondering and you can stop me any time you wanted. I'm sorry. I have a tendency to babble."

Sage smiled softly. "I noticed."


	6. Chapter 6

Here it is, the next chapter in Kayleigh and Sage's story. I know this chapter is a little slow, but I promise things pick up in the next one.

Thank Yous:

CrimsonWhisper: I'm glad you liked the shower scene. My partner and I spent a while working on that one to get it just right, with the almost touching. No more touching in this chapter I'm afraid, but hopefully you'll still enjoy it.

Steel Sapphires and Shattered Emeralds

Chapter 6

After Kayleigh had left to go to work with promises to be back by 7 am, and looking for something to do, Sage decided to see what books Kayleigh had on her bookshelf. After all, you could tell a lot about a person by what they had on their shelves, especially with a mind like hers.

Walking onto the lounge she headed for the bookshelves and found herself looking at a battered silver photo frame perched in front of the tattered books. Stuffed into the frame was a photo of about 25 people of various ages, several of them bearing a strong resemblance to Kayleigh.

It was a photo of her family, Sage realised quickly. As she picked it up to examine it closer the photo and several others fell out of the frame. Looking closer Sage saw that they had just been pushed in front of the original photo in the frame. They had been taken at Christmas, every year since Kayleigh had left.

The original photo held maybe thirty people, ranging in age from very old and frail to tiny babies. In the middle was a much younger Kayleigh, blushing and with pale pink hair. Over the course of the other seven photos some of these faces disappeared and others grew older. Turning the most recent one over in her hands Sage saw the inscription:

'To our darling Kayleigh.

The family can never get too big.

Love from all of us on Emerald Isle.'

Sage smiled. Even so far away, Kayleigh's family were looking out for her. It was a comforting reminder that people were on the whole, and for the most part good. Her natural inquisitiveness piqued, Sage decided to take the time to explore the rest of the apartment. After all, she had only really known Kayleigh for 24 hours, give or take their first couple of meetings, and now she was alone. She carefully tucked the pictures back into the frame.

Firstly, she took the time to look properly at the lounge. Although she'd taken in everything about it before, she hadn't properly looked. The first thing she noticed was the blueness. The walls were painted blue, there was a blue rug on the floor and the battered sofa was covered with a blue throw. The curtains were a shade of off white, with blue flowers printed on them.

Sage found Kayleigh's colour preferences interesting, considering that blue was a colour her hair went only when she was in pain or angry, and she chose to surround herself in it constantly. She shrugged slightly. Who didn't have issues when it all boiled down?

The bookshelves followed the wall from the door to the far left corner, with the sofa placed 6 feet in front of them effectively separating the room in two. Against the wall furthest from the door was a computer, what appeared to be a rag-rug loom, and a small basket, half full of old, semi-shredded clothing, most of it male. In front of the sofa was a mostly blue rug, and upon closer inspection she found it was a rag rug, probably from Kayleigh's loom.

In the right-hand corner of the room was a fairly old TV, with a video and DVD cabinet beside it. Sage made her way over to the computer desk and began to go through the drawers. In the she found various family letters which didn't contain anything more interesting than birth and death announcements and a few cousins passing exams. Right in the bottom of one drawer she found a broken picture of a young man, presumably Kayleigh's ex boyfriend. Interesting indeed. Sage assumed that the huge chip in the photo frame matched the large dent in the lounge doorframe. Kayleigh was also, apparently, a good shot.

Her work schedule was taped up by the computer. She was working 6 days a week, and doing all the overtime she was allowed. Apparently, Kayleigh didn't like free time, and was making a large amount of money, which Sage doubted she was spending much of.

Moving into the hallway Sage knew that she didn't need to look in the kitchen. It was mainly blue, and the standard kitchen of someone who had lived alone for too long. However, the painting at the far end of the hall caught her eye. She contemplated it for a second. An enormous dragon curled around the earth, perching proudly on top of it with its head in the stars while its tail dipped into a river below. All around it, a border of green men, faces made of leaves and vine, stared back at her.

She recognised the artist as Peter Pracownik, a British painter, although the painting itself was not one she'd seen before. It was a very good print. It was mainly blue, with the occasional aqua and blue-green. The frame was also blue.

She continued to Kayleigh's bedroom. Sage was unsurprised to find it blue. Blue walls, blue carpet, blue cloth draped over the dresser. The curtains were cream, with blue ties. The only thing that wasn't blue was the bed. The bed sheets where plain white, and as far as Sage could tell pure linen as well. Kayleigh apparently liked her small comforts.

Opening the wardrobe first she was confronted with rows of plain, serviceable blue jeans and plain, serviceable shirts, one in each colour, and several blue ones. The only exceptions to these were a pair of black trousers pushed to the back of the wardrobe, an ugly grey skirt suit which screamed 'token interview outfit' and an elegant embroidered blouse that had fallen off its hanger, apparently a fair while ago. Sage left it where it was, not wanting to alert Kayleigh to her snooping.

In the bottom of the wardrobe were another pair of boots, exactly like the pair Kayleigh had been wearing when she left in the morning, and a pair of loose sandals, new looking and wrapped in a clear plastic bag. The bag was very dusty.

Moving to the dresser she took in the top of it in once glance. Half finished bottle of cheap moisturiser and a hairbrush were all that was on it. However, the top drawers were a different matter. While the other drawers contained plain, serviceable underwear, socks and basic toiletries, the top drawer contained some old, but very nice underwear sets, a very small lacy nightdress, an almost full tub of coco butter moisturiser and some very dusty makeup. It seemed to Sage as if Kayleigh had put away part of herself in that drawer, probably when her boyfriend left.

Sage finished her snooping in the bathroom. Although most of it was pretty standard stuff, and mostly all in blue, there was one thing that caught her eye. On the sink was a cup, holding the toothbrushes and toothpaste. The cup had an image of a very drunk leprechaun and bore the logo 'Happy Fucking St. Patrick's day!' in lurid green letters. She remembered reading about it in one of the family letters; it had come from one of Kayleigh's cousins.

Sage smiled slightly. She had enough info for now. Heading back into the living room she went to the book selves and picked up a book that had caught her eye before the photograph. Karin Slaughter's 'Blindsighted'. It looked interesting, if slightly ironic considering Kayleigh's job.

Sage sat on the battered sofa and put on her glasses. After all, what was the point in doing one thing when you could to two? She accessed the files that Bishop had sent her the last night and began to go through them while she read. As she did that, she also thought about what she was doing here.

After all, the attraction she had felt towards Kayleigh had started out purely physical, but things had developed and she found the woman's intellect to be attractive as well. Not that other people she knew weren't, but she was different. Kayleigh didn't want her for her computer like mind, or purely for her body. Kayleigh wanted her for Sage herself, and that was certainty different.

It had been a long time since she had been with someone properly, longer than she cared to remember, and this seemed like a good opportunity. For what, she wasn't sure, but Kayleigh was an attractive woman in a lot of ways, so it was worth finding out. Her mind made up, Sage settled back into the couch and continued with her other two tasks.

Kayleigh got back to her apartment about the time she had told Sage, and the answer to her knock at the door revealed that the other woman had stayed. Closing the door behind her, Kayleigh shuffled her feet nervously and started to speak. "Now that we're dating, erm, we are dating, aren't we?" she asked nervously and smiled when Sage nodded slightly, "well, I bought you these."

She brought out from behind her back a small bunch of flowers, cornflowers and a tiny purple rosebud. She had found them in a little flower shop that she normally walked straight past. She had been looking at some normal roses when the bright cornflowers caught her eye.

"They're… lovely. Thank you." Sage smiled awkwardly at her and moved to take them. Kayleigh moved in for a kiss, and Sage didn't protest. "Do you have a vase for them?"

"Ahhh… no." said Kayleigh, thinking fast. "But I think I might have a water jug I don't tend to use."

"That would be great, if you don't mind." Said Sage, looking again at the flowers, "They're very pretty."

Once the flowers were arraigned in Kayleigh's blue glass water jug and they prepared for the evening, Sage brought up something that had been nagging at her during the night while she had been waiting for Kayleigh. "Although today has been nice, you realise that I'm more of a day person." She said. "That's when I get most of my work done, and I'll have to sleep at night. All my colleagues are on the same schedule. It's difficult to work together otherwise."

"It's alright." Kayleigh smiled, obviously tired. Her accent always broadened when she needed sleep. "We'll be having the twilight and dawn hours together. Like me Ma always said, 'something is better than nothing.' Besides, it means we won't be getting sick of each other too quick."

"Very true." Said Sage smiling. "We just have to try not to disturb each other."

In the following days the settled into a comfortable routine, Sage sleeping during the night and Kayleigh during the day, while they made sure to spend the first and last meal of the day together. It gave them up to six hours a day together, and they spent most of this talking, getting to know each other better, and swapping theories on the case.

One afternoon on her way to work, Kayleigh picked up the late paper when she went to get an extra pint of milk for the lab fridge. She settled down to read it on her break, and was horrified at what she read. The headlines screamed 'mutant serial killer' and detailed the 6th victim, killed only five days after the last woman, and speculations that the killer was a telepath.

"Who the fuck leaked that?" she fumed to herself, embarrassed at someone in her department's lack of professionalism. As she continued to read she found that the latest victim, Angela Smith, 29 had been reported missing from her house two nights ago, by her husband, who'd gone into another room for a few minutes and returned to find her missing. And yes, she was a mutant. Another minor mutation too.

"Fucking holy shite." She swore out loud. She knew what this meant. There would be a rise in mutant hate crimes. With copycats trying to hide their crimes as this sicko, this 'psychic psycho' as the papers were calling him, or 'good citizens' deciding that anybody with psychic abilities should be placed under 'citizens arrest.'

Not only that, but she knew she was going to see Sage a hell of a lot less now. The XSE was going to have to do some serious PR scrabbling to pull this out of the shit heap it was sinking in. Since Sage was the poster girl for the XSE in LA at the moment, it was up to her and Bishop, as well as overseeing any more autopsies that needed doing.

These thoughts were confirmed when Sage arrived back at the apartment, a parcel in her hand. "You've probably already figured what's going to happen." Sage said, noticing the newspaper. She looked embarrassed and handed Kayleigh the parcel. "I was going to get you this anyway, but it seemed more appropriate now. Think of it both as a gift and an apology."

Kayleigh opened it to find a beautiful purple skirt, embroidered with blue forget-me-nots on the waist and hem. "Its beautiful…" Kayleigh said, almost speechless. It was also very expensive, but she didn't want to bring up money and spoil the moment.

"It's not blue I know," Sage began, and Kayleigh blushed, "but I know it'll suit you."

"Thank you." Kayleigh said softly. "You know, I was thinking that since we won't be seeing as much of each other and since we're definitely a couple now, and, um… perhaps we should go on a date. A proper date." She finished, biting her tongue to stop herself babbling.

"That sounds good. It'll give us a chance to catch up with each other. What were you thinking?" Sage asked.

"I've got the night off in five days time, and I know a really good Japanese restaurant. If you can get the time off, and you aren't too busy, and if you like Japanese food at all and…"

Sage interrupted her mid-babble. "I'll make time for you, Kayleigh." Sage herself was interrupted by the sound of her pager going off. Kayleigh knew that Sage was going to be busy, but she hadn't expected it to start so soon.

Things didn't improve over the next three days, although they didn't deteriorate properly until the next killing. This time Kayleigh was forewarned before reading the newspaper. She'd deliberately asked the day shift coroner to call her if he'd got another one, and she'd heard all the gory details earlier that day. She was glad that she hadn't been working when the last two had come in. from what she'd picked up from the day shift guy, and from Sage when she'd seen her, the bastard had been beating them more than before, still with no signs of them fighting back.

Glad as she was that she'd missed the last two bodies that had gone to the day shift, the following evening made her wish she'd missed this one as well. And to top it all off, Sage wasn't there. In fact, she hadn't seen her for 24 hours.

"She's following a lead." Was all Bishop would say when she asked him about Sage's whereabouts. It was enough. She'd known that Sage was going to be busy, but this took the fucking piss. Even a hug from Bishop, which was something Kayleigh wished she could carry with her for emergencies, didn't help much.

She quickly read through the case notes laid out in front of her, and what she found made her go cold.

The woman, Miriam Moules, had been a schoolteacher, working in a school, teaching children between the ages of five and ten, and that wasn't the worst of it. She'd been taken a day ago from the school playground at lunch, with 400 children around her, and nobody saw a thing. The thought that he could have just as easily taken one of the children had the city in absolute uproar. Yet again, she'd been a minor mutant. An empath, with the ability to induce calm and concentration in people. She'd been an ideal teacher.

To try and distract herself, Kayleigh got ready and prepared to start the autopsy. Looking down at the woman, she didn't like what she saw. It was obvious that she'd been strangled, but what was even more obvious was that she'd been beaten, quite badly. There was significant bruising on her face and upper torso, with several abrasions and cuts. Once again, no sign of a struggle. He'd had a lot of fun doing this.

She made her way through the autopsy like an automation, doing her job and nothing more, and as soon as she could she made her excuses and left work for the day. Right now, she just wanted to be at home, wanted to find Sage waiting for her with a warm hug and comforting words.

But Sage wasn't waiting for her. The apartment was cold and empty, with not even a note on the fridge door to say anything, although there was more laundry in the basket, and a plate was drying on the side.

Kayleigh made her way to bed, tears streaming down her face. She was afraid and alone and all she could see when she closed her eyes was the dead woman's face, beaten and bloody. Eventually, sleep claimed her.


	7. Chapter 7

Note: WARNING: This chapter contains violence and a non-graphic violent sexual situation. If this will distress you or anything please be warned.

Thank Yous:

CrimsonWhisper: We'll here is the next chapter, and that bad feeling you've got about the serial killer should be about to get worse. I'm glad you are enjoying it, and hopefully that will remain after you've read this chapter. Thanks for all of your reviews.

Steel Sapphires and Shattered Emeralds

Chapter 7

She slept so deeply that she woke up an hour after her alarm had gone off. Tonight, she had a date with Sage, who had promised to make time for her. Already, the sceptic in her was saying 'after the last few days, fat fucking chance of that,' but she was determined to give Sage a chance. Their reservation was for 9pm, but Sage had promised to be early.

By the time 7 pm rolled around, Kayleigh was getting worried. She'd changed her outfit once, and then changed it back, and already spent a good hour on her hair and makeup. She'd picked her underwear specially, moisturised and then re-moisturised. By the time 7:30 rolled around Kayleigh was getting angry. By the time Sage walked in at 8:10, Kayleigh was ready to spit nails.

The phone going off almost as soon as Sage had come in didn't help this. Kayleigh picked it up, expecting it to be cold calling, but it was the day coroner, who was covering her shift. She listened to what he had to say, and then handed the phone over to Sage. "It's for you." She said shortly. "I take it Bishop is too busy."

Sage took the phone and turned her back on Kayleigh. "You need me to verify the victim is a mutant? I'll be right there." Sage turned to face Kayleigh, her face blank, and her eyes slightly distant. "As you know, we have another possible killing. They need me to know for sure." Sage was barely looking at her. Kayleigh knew she was calculating something.

"What about our date?" asked Kayleigh, sounding resigned. Her inner sceptic had been right.

"Another time. I need to contact Bishop."

"Wait…" Kayleigh called after her. Sage turned to look at her, almost impatiently, and Kayleigh exploded. "So this is all I am to you then. A pleasant distraction when you need one and have time? A hotel, free of charge? Fucking laundry service?"

"I don't have time for this." Said Sage. There was no anger, no emotion registering at all.

"No, you don't, do you." Kayleigh said quietly with resignation, and then coldly, "you know what, fine. Fuck off. After all, you've got a job to do." Kayleigh would have held back her tears, but Sage was already leaving and in communication with Bishop.

Kayleigh stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door, pulling off the outfit that she'd picked for that night. It consisted of her embroidered blouse and the skirt Sage had given her, with a pair of elegant sandals. As much as she wanted to throw it on the floor, she gave in and hung it up carefully and got in the shower.

After scrubbing off her makeup, put on especially for the occasion, she turned the water up as hot as she could bear it, trying to wash away the tears and the ache in her heart. She showered for a long time, luxuriating in the water and filling the room with steam.

Finished, she got out and wrapped a towel around her waist. As she turned to close the cubicle door behind her she felt both a presence behind her and a cold, hostile presence in her mind. Slapping up a mental shield as Sage had taught her she heard her attacker grunt in surprise. She spun around leading with her right fist, the fear of ending up on her own autopsy table lending her speed. As her fist connected with her assailant's jaw she followed with the nails of her left hand, aiming for his eyes. She wasn't expecting him to slap her hand away, and the pain from it hitting the wall distracted her enough for him to get another strike in. The heels of both his hands struck either side of her breastbone, sending her reeling back into the shower door, with enough force to shatter it.

As Kayleigh fell through the glass he grabbed her and pulled her onto the floor under him. The shock and the ferocity of the attack had winded her and broke her concentration enough that her mental shield slipped, and he was in.

It felt like her eyes were bleeding fire and she fought with everything she had to deny him full access to her mind. She also tried to lever herself up, but as she pushed against the floor, she found she was pushing against broken glass and that pain brought the rest of her mental shields all the way down.

Kayleigh felt her body shut down and become unresponsive to her commands, but realised that she could still think, look around and feel pain. This came as his fist cracked across her face, and he leant down and whispered in her ear. "That's payback, bitch."

She looked at him, feeling pure fear growing in her, trying desperately to regain control of her body, but to no avail. The next blow caught her by surprise, she tried to gasp, but before she managed to catch her breath it was followed by dozens more. She felt her nose shatter under one blow. Her lip split, her eye socket cracked, and she knew that she'd be swollen and black and blue within hours. She closed her eyes, trying desperately to escape.

"No you don't" he whispered, "you are going to look at me while I have some fun. I don't want you escaping into your mind yet." Kayleigh felt her eyes open themselves, and found herself looking into a leering male face with wild eyes. Her whole face was burning, and she knew by now her hair was bright blue.

He stood up, and she felt horror and disgust when she saw his hand go to his belt. She felt him rip off her towel, saw him leer for more, and tried desperately hard to close her eyes, but they were immobile. She watched him kiss her bloody lips, desperate to have enough control to bite his tongue. He licked her blood from his lips and laughed. She felt two huge, rough hands push her thighs apart, and blinding pain seared down every nerve in her body as he forced himself into her. She wanted to scream, so loud that his ears would burst and she'd cough blood, but nothing came out. She could barely breathe, and then his hands wrapped around her throat, squeezing until she felt that her eyes were about to burst.

She knew then that she was going to die, and found herself begging for her life as the shards of glass cut her back to ribbons and her blood pooled sickly underneath her as he moved. The only answer to her pleading was her attacker's hollow laughter, although whether it was in her head or not she wasn't sure. She fought to close her eyes as blackness descended, her eyes watering as she tried to block out his leering face, but her eyelids wouldn't respond. As she felt herself falling into the abyss, a slap echoed across her face, and his hands clawed at her breasts as he released the pressure on her throat. She felt his shuddering climax, and distantly wondered what colour her hair was.

'Pure white.' Came a sneering voice in her head. 'Shame really. I always preferred it dark. You were nice and tight you know. I should have done that to the others, but you're special.'

'Why are you doing this?' Kayleigh whimpered, her fear overridden momentarily by the need to know.

'Because she took something of mine once.' He said, laughter echoing around her head. 'So I'm taking something from her. I won't kill you yet, not like the others. I want to see the look on her face when I kill you.'

'Get out of my head!' Kayleigh screamed, fear rising yet again.

'No. You get out.' The voice laughed. Kayleigh felt him reach between her legs again, and then found her eyes closing, as the yawning black oblivion swallowed her whole.

She next came to sitting in front of the mirror of her dressing table. Blood ran down her back from where the glass had slashed her. There was makeup laid out in front of her, and a pair of scissors. In horror, she watched her hands apply the makeup without her violation. No matter how hard she fought she had no control. Her hands picked up the scissors, and pulled a handful of hair around. Waves of pain seared through her as clump by clump, she cropped her hair back to only a few inches long. As it fell, it darkened back to its natural brunette. Only the few inches of tattered hair he'd left her still retained its colour. 'Nearly fifteen years worth of hair…' she thought as the watched her hands take off the last of the length.

Her body then got up, and was guided into the clothes her attacker held up for her. Then her headscarf was wrapped over her head and around the front of her face, disguising what of the broken nose and black eyes the makeup didn't hide, and the freshly cropped remains of her hair.

'Sage will save me…' she thought desperately as he groped at her breasts.

'Tessa? You really think so?' he laughed, 'she doesn't care. She didn't even tell you her name. You think she's going to risk anything to save you? Self preservation is her first priority. You're all mine now.'

'Please, don't kill me.' Kayleigh whimpered, 'I'll do anything for you, just don't kill me.'

'You'll do anything for me anyway. I will kill you. I just want to make an example of you first.' He slapped her again, and she felt her body stand up. 'But we've got to go for a ride, before she gets back.'

She was walked out of her door and down the steps towards the exit of the building, all the time banging her mental fists against the prison of her mind, hearing her captor's laughter at her feeble attempts to fight him. As a car door shut behind her she felt her body close down and once again welcomed oblivion.

Sage made it back to apartment an hour and a half after she'd left, rushing as much as she dared to be safe. Once she'd found that the suspected victim wasn't a mutant and that the coroner covering Kayleigh's shift wasn't entirely sure why he'd called her she'd become very suspicious and left as soon as she'd been able.

She knew something was wrong as soon as she walked in. The door was unlocked, the place smelt wrong, and when she called for Kayleigh there had been no answer. Sweeping the kitchen and living room quickly she decided the bedroom was the best bet. After all, she could just be deeply asleep.

Opening the door, Sage walked into a room that looked like a bomb had hit it. There were clothes all over the floor and bed, the makeup was out and open on the dressing table and Kayleigh's headscarf was missing. The mess itself said that something wasn't right, Kayleigh was normally very tidy. Then she saw the pile of hacked off brunette hair around Kayleigh's makeup stool, spattered with drops of blood.

Fighting a sense of foreboding that was almost physically painful Sage made her way into the bathroom. It was a battle zone, and the detective and analyst in her automatically started cataloguing the evidence. The attack had definitely begun here. Broken shower door, blood and, she snarled, semen on the floor. Lots of it. She closed her eyes for a second, fighting the memories and helpless rage that threatened to drown her, before continuing.

Signs of a struggle. She bent down and looked at the bloody spittle and tooth on the floor. It wasn't one of Kayleigh's, she knew that. It looked like Kayleigh had managed to land at least one punch. 'Good girl.' She thought to herself. Using the electronic DNA swab she'd persuaded Forge to develop she sent the blood sample to Bishop and continued looking around.

Stepping slightly further into the room she caught sight of something in the sink, which on closer inspection turned out to be the Leprechaun mug, chipped and now missing its handle. Next to it was a piece of bloody glass. Sage picked up the mug and cradled it close to her chest. It took a second for her to register the fact that for a piece of glass from the shower door to have been travelling at a high enough velocity to take down the mug, it must have been an incredible impact. She doubted that she herself would have been able to keep her mental shield up through it, let alone Kayleigh who was new to this. She could only hope that Kayleigh hadn't been pushed through face first.

Holding the broken mug closer she felt a few tears slide down her face. 'He'll pay' she vowed. Looking down she noticed a print in the blood, far too big to be Kayleigh's. Putting on her glasses she commed Bishop and sent him an image of the print. "I need to know who this is, and I need to know now." She said coldly.

"I take it we've got another victim, and this time the killer's messed up?" Bishop asked.

"Hopefully not another victim, not yet. I don't know. The MO is different, but that's not important. Whoever he is, he's got Kayleigh."

"Jesus." A second passed. "Ok, I've got a Jamie Taylor, and an address. I'm sending you everything they've got on him now. Got picked up for shoplifting a few years back, nothing much in his file apart from that."

"Thank you." She signed off before Bishop could offer any platitudes, and reviewed the data as she headed for her bike at a run.

Twenty minutes later found her kicking down the door of a suburban bungalow, gun in hand. She knew from the plans she'd pulled up of this place that it had a basement, and after a quick sweep of the main floor headed down there.

She found the ninth victim dead down there, confirming that this Jamie Taylor was the same serial killer she'd been hunting before. Not that any of that mattered now, not now that he had Kayleigh. And that's when she realised with a start that she was falling in love with the Irish woman.

She knelt down beside the dead woman and rolled her onto her back. There were the customary finger marks on her neck, her eyes were open and she'd had a severe beating, but Sage saw something that made her blood run cold. Amidst the bruises on the woman's face were two distinct blood patterns. The self same patterns that adorned her cheeks. Jamie Taylor was just a host.

"Bogan," she growled, furious at herself for not having put the pieces together, furious for not having protected Kayleigh better. She scanned the room quickly and soon found a note and an aerial photograph pinned to the wall.

The photo was of a disused, derelict warehouse district, and Sage pulled up the plans to correlate while she read the note.

'Dearest Tessa.  
Since I can't have you,  
I shall take something of yours instead.  
B'


	8. Chapter 8

Ok, so this is the penultimate chapter and all of the questions you have about the killer and Kayleigh should be answered within. All that is left after this is the epilogue. Enjoy.

Steel Sapphires and Shattered Emeralds

Chapter 8

Sage was running before she'd even finished the note. He was a dead man, but first she had to get to him before he killed Kayleigh. She knew exactly what he was capable of.

She sped out of the city, breaking the speed limit and pushing her computational skills to their limit. She would not be too late she told herself. She would not leave Kayleigh to suffer at his hands as she had been left.

It took her only minutes to arrive at the place in the photo, but to Sage it seemed like a life time. She didn't even bother to stop her bike as she arrived, just leaped off of it and rushed into the ruins towards a single light shining in the darkness of the summer night.

Bogan's host had his back to her, but at the sound of her footsteps on the rubble he turned, revealing Kayleigh, who's battered and bloody body was pinned by the shoulders to a wooden support beam with two metal stakes. There was no sign of a pulse, and she didn't appear to be breathing. Sage realised that she was already too late, and Kayleigh was dead. Her gaze lingered on Kayleigh's cheeks, where two bloody and blackened furrows traced down them. Under the sickly yellow lamp Kayleigh looked small and frail. Sage could barely take in everything the scene made her feel.

"Do you like them, my dear? I was just putting them on when you arrived," he waved his hands at her. "Now you match."

Sage's hand went to her own scars as she focused on Bogan.

"I couldn't get to you through your precious X-men; they weren't as innocent as I'd been led to believe. But this one is." He leered at her, "or was, anyway. She's still warm if you want one last kiss."

Sage stood in shock for a second, unable to comprehend what was happening. But as she stared at Kayleigh's rapidly cooling corpse and the gloating Bogan something snapped.

Body moving as fast as her mind she pulled out one of her guns and shot Bogan's host in the kneecap. As the body crumpled to the floor Sage tugged a knife from her boot. She strode over to where Bogan was trying to work through the pain, grabbed his host by the hair and pulled him up onto his knees. She thrust the knife into his abdomen, cutting through his diaphragm. As she did this she unleashed her telepathic ability and, with rage fuelling it, caught Bogan as he tried to detach his mind from that of his host, tethering him irrevocably to it.

She watched as he struggled to breathe, asphyxiating gradually. She felt nothing. No pity and no mercy. "I win." She whispered into his ear as his heart gave out and he died. As Bogan let out his last gasp, Kayleigh whimpered.

Sage's head snapped up. She realised with horror that Bogan had wanted her to think that Kayleigh was dead. She'd been bleeding to death while Sage had stood by and watched Bogan dying.

She ran to Kayleigh's side, immensely worried about the deathly pale tone of her skin, and the pure whiteness of every hair on her body.

"Kayleigh? Can you hear me?" she called gently, moving closer, but all Kayleigh did was flinch and whimper. She was loosing too much blood for Sage to be gentle. She'd have to deal with her physical wounds first, before there was no more Kayleigh.

Running back over to Bogan's corpse she hauled its long coat off. The thick leather would protect Kayleigh from the cold, rubble strewn ground. She also stripped off her own coat, to use as a blanket. As she did this she contacted Bishop, telling him to send the air ambulance to her position, and to make sure the crew was all female. Then she signed off and turned her full attention back to Kayleigh.

Supporting her with one arm around her waist, not even noticing all the blood she was being covered in, Sage grasped one of the stakes and pulled. She shuddered slightly at Kayleigh's scream and took her weight as the stake slid out, slicked with gore. Quickly, not wanting to stress Kayleigh's other shoulder she did the same with the second stake, bringing another scream from Kayleigh, and dropped her sagging body onto the coat on the floor. Kayleigh screamed again, and Sage saw the huge amount of glass shards still embedded in the flesh there. There was no other position Sage could lay her in without doing more damage, so she left Kayleigh on her back.

Using her hands and her eyes, Sage fully assessed the damage and began to deal with it. She hit several acupressure points, hopefully deadening some of Kayleigh's pain, and then relocated her kneecap. It was severely damaged, and by the look of it she'd done it tripping in the rubble. Finding the remnants of Kayleigh's clothing, Sage bound what of the smaller wounds that she could afford to and then turned her attention to the shoulder wounds.

If Kayleigh was lucky she would have some limited mobility in her arms, and with surgery could probably have even more, but that was only going to be a possibility if Sage stopped the bleeding. She wadded the wounds as best she could, after the first pad soaked through she added another, and another, until she had nothing left to wad the wounds with and Kayleigh was still bleeding. It was then Sage knew that if she was going to save Kayleigh, she would have to go to extremes.

The helicopter was still too far away, and Kayleigh didn't have that much time. Accessing the data from when she'd first met Kayleigh she found what she was looking for. There was a minute amount of inactive healing factor associated with Kayleigh's hair changing. She could kick start it, and it should give Kayleigh a chance at surviving.

Knowing that this was going to hurt Kayleigh, Sage made her as comfortable as possible and whispered that she was sorry. Then she kissed Kayleigh, triggering the power boost and trying not to cry when Kayleigh arched beneath her, another scream ripping itself from her, swallowed by Sage's kiss.

As she pulled away Sage noticed a marked change in Kayleigh, with the blood running from her wounds slowing to a trickle. It wasn't going to be anything like Wolverine's healing factor, where wounds healed themselves almost instantly, but it would now take Kayleigh only three weeks to heal a wound that would take a normal person four weeks. It would hopefully allow her torn muscles to return to full health and her damaged knee to recover. Eventually.

Sage held on to Kayleigh's hand and watched her, intent on catching any signs of deterioration and listening to Kayleigh babble in broken Gaelic, calling for Sage to help her, and stop the pain.

Sage heard the helicopter circle over head, its searchlight trying to pick them out amongst the rubble, and realised that in the darkness it couldn't see them. She ran over to her bike and dragged it to closer to where they were. It didn't take much to make it burst into flames, with a few holes in the right places to prevent an explosion. She contacted the ambulance and told them what to look for. As it touched down she heard Bishop running across the rubble.

After filling the EMT's in on what had happened, what injuries Kayleigh had and her slight healing factor, Sage headed over to where Bishop was standing over the body of Bogan's host.

"So, this was our serial killer?" he asked, poking the lifeless body with his foot.

"It was Bogan." Sage said flatly. At Bishop's shocked expression she continued. "He did it all to get at me, and then found out about Kayleigh. It's my fault, but he'd dead now. I tied him to the corpse. He's not coming back this time."

"Oh Sage." Bishop noticed the tears running down her cheeks and pulled her into a hug, which she stayed in a moment before pulling out of his arms.

"I'm going to go with her to the hospital, make sure they treat her properly." Sage said, "Can you take care of things here?"

"No problem." Bishop said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Are you going to be ok Sage?"

"When she is, yes." Sage climbed into the helicopter as it prepared to take off again. The doors slammed behind her as she took Kayleigh's hand again. She would make sure that Kayleigh was alright.


	9. Epilogue

Ok, so here it is, the end of this little rollercoaster ride. I know some of you will probably be sad to see this go, but never fear there is a sequel in the works.

Thank yous:

CrimsonWhisper: I'm glad you've like it this far, I tried to be original and inventive with Kayleigh, and Sage is one of my favorite characters so hopefully I got her down pretty well. The sequel should be out in the next couple of months, so tune in for more Sage and Kayleigh adventures.

Steel Sapphires and Shattered Emeralds

Epilogue

Sage stood on the balcony of her room at the house in Valle Soleada watching the sunset. It had been less than a month since the incident with Bogan and she had spent a lot of time wishing that she'd some how done things differently, somehow been able to figure out that it had been Bogan, somehow managed to save Kayleigh. Somehow…

Her dark thoughts were interrupted by a soft hand gently touching her shoulder, before falling away. "You shouldn't be brooding you know," a soft voice said behind her. "It'll give you wrinkles, and they wouldn't suit you right now. Shite!"

"And you shouldn't be moving around yet," Sage turned around in time to catch Kayleigh, who sagged as the small amount of strength that she'd managed to muster deserted her. "You know Lucas told you that it would be at least another month before you should even be getting out of the wheelchair." She eased a quietly protesting Kayleigh back into the chair.

"I know, but with my healing ability…"

"With your limited healing ability you'll be moving around a month sooner than you should," Sage knew she sounded harsh, but Kayleigh had to understand this or she'd do herself more damage. "It's still going to be a six month process in total."

"I know, I know," Kayleigh sounded defeated, something that Sage hadn't wanted. She knew that Kayleigh felt helpless and trapped being confined to the chair, just as Storm had when she'd been sat in it. Her attention snapped back when Kayleigh continued, "You were just looking so damn lonely, I wanted to be comforting you."

Sage bent down and kissed her, feeling slightly guilty. After all she was the one who was supposed to be looking after Kayleigh, not the other way round. "Thank you," she said simply. "It means a lot to me, you being here means a lot to me."

"Aye," Kayleigh sounded slightly downbeat. "And I'm all moved in with you now, so you can't be getting rid of me." Her voice was slightly louder than before, and harsh with forced brightness. Sage knew without needing her telepathy that Kayleigh was holding onto some real fears that she would be abandoned, especially now that she saw herself as broken.

"I don't want to get rid of you Kayleigh," Sage moved quickly to dispel Kayleigh's fears. "I love you," it wasn't the first time she had said it, but she knew that Kayleigh held every word in her heart. "In fact, Storm wants you to become a member of our team."

"But I've got no powers worth speaking of."

"No," Sage winced slightly at Kayleigh's flinch, but continued anyway. "Your powers may be minor but you are an excellent organiser and you skill with autopsies is invaluable. Plus it means that you can go where I go," 'and I can keep an eye on you' she added silently.

"And you'll keep me safe?" Kayleigh asked, almost reading Sage's mind. She was sad that Kayleigh had to ask that, but knew where the insecurities had come from.

"Always," she answered truthfully.

"I'm in." Kayleigh sounded much firmer in this statement than she had in anything for the past two months. Sage smiled at her.

"Welcome to the team anamchara. Soulmate."


End file.
